Lemongrass Beef Noodle Bowl (Bún Bò Xào)

This stir-fried beef dish is usually eaten in Vietnamese rice noodle bowls though you could certainly eat it with rice, in a sandwich, or in a salad.

Ingredients: -1 lb thin slices of beef, cut across the grain -2 Tb minced fresh lemongrass -4-6 cloves minced garlic -3 Tb fish sauce -1 Tb sugar -minced chile peppers or sambal to taste -black pepper to taste -1-1.5 cups sliced onion -canola/vegetable/peanut oil

Directions:

1. Mix together the beef, lemongrass, half the garlic, 2 Tb fish sauce, sugar, chile, 1-2 Tb oil, bunch of black pepper and let sit for 15-30 minutes.

2. Heat up some oil until it's pretty hot and add the onion, stirring frequently until softened and starting to brown. Add the remaining garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Set the onion mixture aside.

3. Add some more oil, heat it up to high, and fry the beef in batches, depending on how big your pan is. You want to fry just enough at a time so that the beef browns nicely and cooks in just a minute or so.

4. After all the beef is cooked, toss the beef and the onions back in the pan briefly to reheat and add in the other 1 Tb fish sauce or a little more, to taste. The dish is a little saucy but there won't be a whole lot which is why you add prepared fish sauce to the noodle bowl.